Alchemy Versus Magic
by Fullmetal Vampire Lover
Summary: Big difference.
1. Chapter 1

** Sorry about the OC'ness, but I have this to show this to the ones that actually read OC stories.**

_My name is Charlotte Chroeder and I am a Sorceress that can use magic. In Amestris, the country that I live in, alchemists are becoming more known. Sorcery is nothing like alchemy with the exception of magic. I use tarot cards to fight with and also to give people readings. I have been called many things like magical, miracle worker, and an ALCHEMIST. I am not an alchemist! I do not need to use a transmutation circle to perform my magic!_

I sit at a table biting on a straw with irritation from the crowd who had just declared that I was an alchemist. They had also told me a state alchemist had passed not too long ago, which is probably why I was declared one. I pull out my magical Tarot cards and spread them out upside down on the table, feeling the energy flow through me.

_In the name of Aerianis this is getting annoying. I would like to meet one of these alchemists to see what exactly they can do that is so magical! _

I grab a card than pull it up, not looking at the front. I stare intensely at it in deep thought as I rearrange it to answer my question.

_If it is a reverse card, than I shall go and find this alchemist Edward Elric. If it is a normal card, than I shall stay for another night._

I feel the card vibrate in my hand and I quickly turn it around to sea reverse card. It is the One of Torch with the moon in the left top corner and the sun on the bottom right corner. I smile at the card than snap my fingers, causing the cards to pile into a stack than into a small cube. Than the small cube begins to deform and transform into a small flaming Phoenix named Tranquility.

"Tranquility, we are going to go and find out who these alchemists are." I tell him, petting his flaming head as people stare in amazement. Tranquility coos and I get up, pulling out a small amulet in the shape of a ball from my pocket. "Show me where Edward Elric is." I demand, watching the ball expand and a picture forms. They are on a train by themselves… "Heading to Youswelll Coal mines for an inspection. Come on Tranquility, we are going to Youswell!" I tell the bird who caws quietly in agreement. Pulling out another onyx amulet, I squeeze it in my fingers.

_ I will meet Edward Elric there than. I will ask him what exactly he does to get so famous. Why would there be a State Alchemist when there isn't a STATE sorceress?! I would probably be able to get that degree, but why work for the military? How much would a state sorceress get paid anyways? I could use the money… My mother is a Necromancer and she lets me travel because I am old enough. When a sorceress turns the age of 13, she becomes an adult. I am currently 17 so I have been travelling for four years._

_ I don't visit my mother very often because she is a very busy Necromancer. She absolutely hates alchemists because she believes that they are wizard wannabe's. A sorceress has to be born with the power, along with Necromancers and demons. Sorceresses have many different techniques that they like to use. I use amulets and my tarot cards mostly because the others are not my style or I am not advanced enough. Some use wands, some use chants, some use song, some use a mage, some use rings, some use keys, some use bracelets or other accessories. Almost every Sorceress has a companion and mine is Tranquility, my phoenix. Now a day, more Sorceresses are using chimeras and I refuse to._

"Transport to Youswell." I state, watching as a wisp of ash colored smoke flows out of the amulet and surrounds me. Nobody is around to see this, but I wouldn't care if they did. A few seconds later I am standing on the outskirts of a dirty run down town looking at it with distaste. I walk towards it and look at the slum town with interest. The people seem tired and depressed something I haven't seen in a while. They look at me with interest and confusion, probably because of the way I was dressed.

_I have on a long sleeved droopy purple shirt with black stars all over it, a blue lined skirt with a giant pocket with the same design as my shirt on the front, black leggings, knee high brown boots with a long pocket on the left knee and a shorter pocket on the right. On the right sleeve I have a darker purple pocket and over my heart on my shirt there is a flame colored star, which was made by Tranquility. The star is also permanently etched into my skin right in the middle of my chest and on the back of my hand. In the pocket on my knee is my mage, or my magical weapon. _

_ It is a black handle that when I grab it, it immediately expands into a full length mage with jewels encrusted into the sides. When I am fighting, the gold moon end has a fireball in the middle because Tranquility combines with my staff while the other end is like the tip of an arrow. The only element I use is fire because I am really bad with the other elements. One more thing that sticks out is my purple eyes. I was born with them and only real magical beings have eyes like mine._

"A tourist!" A boy a little shorter than me declares, running over to me with excitement. I blink twice than look at Tranquility who turned back into a cube and hides in my shirt pocket. "Hello there! Are you looking for a place to stay the night?! Some where to eat?!" He asks as people look at me with interest.

"Yes I am. Can you please show me a place?" I ask him as he laughs. I tall muscular man joins his side with a giant smile on his face.

"We own the towns' only inn so you should come and stay there!" he declares, leading me to a place that is semi-nice looking. I look around at the dust covering the hotel walls as the man laughs. "Sorry about the dust, we haven't had a customer in a while and we don't have much money." He admits, looking a little sad.

"I would love to stay the night! How much does it cost?" I ask him, humming to myself at the soon arrival of Edward Elric.

"That will be 1,000 dollars for one night and two meals." He says, still smiling to himself.

"1,000 dollars?" I ask shocked, than sigh. "I guess I can make some money than." I tell them, digging in my skirt pocket and pulling out a small sapphire amulet. I set the amulet on the table than snap my fingers, a bright red light surrounding the amulet turning it into a bunch of bills and coins. "Will this work?" I ask, pointing at it.

"An alchemist?!" They gasp, causing my skin to crawl as I grind my teeth together with irritation.

"I am NOT an alchemist! I am a sorceress! This is MAGIC not ALCHEMY!" yell angrily, the star on my hand flashing red.

"What's that?" They all ask.

"It's a person born with actual magic powers unlike humans who use their brains and those transmutation circle things to attempt alchemy." I explain making random circles in the air as red fire lines follow my finger.

"That's amazing! I tried to dabble with alchemy once to save this old town, but it didn't work out too well."The man laughs, collecting my money as the rest of the men in the inn laugh and tell jokes to each other about his failed attempts. I smile and sit down as the men go back to work for more work. They seem to get along so well, I wonder what is up with the lack of money… A few minutes later, there is another commotion.

"We have two more guests!" the two from earlier declare to the rest of the inn as they invite him in. There, standing in all his shortness, is Edward Elric and his… brother? His brother is a suit of armor with only one aura around him, the soul aura but no body heat radiation.

"Hey dad this guy is an alchemist!" The boy declares, grabbing my attention. "That is the second we have met today!" The boy declares.

"I am not an alchemist." I hiss quietly between clenched teeth.

"There's another alchemist here?" Edward asks surprised, looking around the inn.

"Khayal, she isn't an alchemist remember?" The father slash owner asks laughing as he hands the alchemist boy a plate of food.

"What is she?" Edward asks, his eyes still not seeing me. I sigh and stand up, grabbing his attention.

"I am Charlotte, a sorceress." I tell him, irritably rubbing my fingers together with irritation.


	2. Chapter 2

"Oh, I am Edward Elric." He introduces loudly as I watch all of the aura in the room go to a dark red. The man snatches the plate from Edward just as he is about to dig into the plate.

"So you're Elric the alchemist… The state alchemist?" The man asks Edward looks slightly nervous and weirded out.

"K-Kind of." He says reaching out to grab the cup on the table but the man takes it from him as well. "What's the big deal?" Edward demands. The man grabs the two boys and throws them out into the street.

"Get lost!" They yell, glaring out the door. "Dogs of the military aren't wanted here!" They yell at him, glaring and insulting him in unison.

"I'm not a state anything! I am a civilian!" The brother declares and walks inside as they invite him back in. They threw out the boy that I wanted to talk to, how disappointing. I stand up to go outside, but I am stopped by the brother of the young boy.

"What is a sorceress?" He asks me, his red glowing eyes looking at me from empty armor.

"I am a person who is actually born with powers or magic that I can use at my own use. Unlike alchemy, it doesn't require any knowledge about science but can be used by whatever technique the sorcerer or sorceress decides to use. I use tarot cards, my fingers, amulets, Tranquility, and my mage staff." I explain openly, noticing everybody listening. Good, then they will know how much better sorcery is compared to alchemy.

"Can you explain further? And does Sorcery follow the same laws alchemy does?" The brother asks.

"Laws? What laws?" I ask curiously.

"_The Law of Conservation of Mass_ and the_ Law of Natural Providence_." He explains. "Or to put it more simply, the Law of Equivalent Exchange."

"Equivalent exchange?"

"Like how if I want to obtain something, something of equal value must be given." He explains easier.

"Oh, no I don't have to use any of that. It just happens." I shrug.

"Can you demonstrate some of the other things you listed?" He begs, looking at me with plead in his eyes. I dig into my small shirt pocket and pull a flame colored cube as everybody watches with intensity. "What kind of cube is that?" The boy asks with surprise.

"He is not a cube! This is my pet, Tranquility. You can come out you shy fire ball." I mumble soothingly to Tranquility in cube form. Slowly the cube begins to flare and the sides pull out into flame wings. Soon the entire cube is a flaming bird known as a phoenix named Tranquility.

"Whoa!" the brother gasps as others around stares at the bird in wonder. Tranquility sits on my shoulder as a man reaches over to touch him, only to burn his finger.

"It's real fire!" The man exclaims, holding his finger with a hiss of pain. I nod as the bird nuzzles into my neck and the star on my hand burns brighter.

"Well, yes. This is a phoenix, a bird that is made of 90 percent fire. It is a long living bird that is born and reborn from its own ashes when it dies. He has yet to reincarnate with me as his owner, but I hope it will turn out well." I explain to them

"How come you do not burn under his touch?" The brother asks, looking at Tranquility closely.

"Because fire is my element, so I am resistant to fire. It's like how the elements work. Fire is the strongest because it can beat all of the elements depending on how much experience the person has. But if the water element and the air element combine, it can beat fire." I explain on.

"How do you use the fire element?" The small boy known as Khayal asks, excitement in his eyes.

"Well, yes." I tell him proudly. "Show an example!" He begs, jumping up with excitement. I pause and think for a moment before bending over and digging my hand into my knee pocket. I pull out a small black handle that immediately pops out and extends into my mage staff. Tranquility immediately dives off my shoulder, glides around the room and collides with the center of the moon on the end of the staff, turning into a small fire ball that centers the energy. I wave the mage around slowly to show it to everyone as a small red smoky line lingers in its path. As quickly as Tranquility was in, he separates from the mage and turns into a cube, hiding into the shirt pocket as the door slams open.

We all look at the door as the entire room aura tenses up. A man with a handkerchief is standing there as two other men in uniforms stand behind him. He has an aura of authority around him.

"This place looks awful like usual Halling." He states, his voice with a mocking tone.

"Well well Lieutenant, what brings you to this shabby place?" The man named Halling asks.

"Enough small talk, I hear you are late on your taxes. I know you're not the only deadbeat in this town, but don't expect me to ignore you." He says, his eyes trailing with disgust over the room.

"I'm very sorry but we are barely getting by as it is." Halling says, clenching his fist trying to contain his anger.

"Seems like you are still able to sell alcohol and you still have tourists." He says, staring at me. I glare at him in all his disrespectfulness until he starts again. "So I guess I can lower your salary a bit more?" He asks, smiling evilly. Everyone is on their feet with disbelief and shock.

"What?!" They demand. I stand up and stop the boy before he could do something stupid. I take the towel from his hand and throw it myself at his face after boiling the towel to scalding hot temperatures.

"Excuse me who ever the hell you are but can't you tell that these people are suffering you mindless heartless jerk?!" I demand the cube in my pocket flashing. The lieutenant peels the rag off his face as the guard gets into fighting position.

"You little brat! Sir allow me…" The man walks towards me and actually slaps me right in the face, causing me to fall to the ground. One of the guards pulls out a sword.

"Let this be a warning to you tourists. I am in charge of this place and you need to learn your place." He says as the man lifts his sword and my paralyzed body refuses to work for me. Before the sword could hit me, Edward Elric is standing in front of me with his arm out. The sword breaks in half as everybody including me stares in shock.

"WH-What?! It broke?!" The man gasps, staring at his sword in shock. It broke over his arm? His arm is a prosthetic! Edward strolls over and picks up a drink and begins to sip out of it casually as if none of this had happened. Tranquility is in phoenix form now full of anger towards the man who had struck me.

"What is that?!" The men demand, staring in shock at the bird.

"Where did this kid come from?!"

"Just a kid passing through." Edward answers, not even noticing the flaming phoenix on my shoulder, squawking at the man as he trembles.

"This is none of your business kid! Stay out!" The man snaps, cautiously backing away from me and Tranquility as its wings open wider.

"Well… I heard that the Lieutenant was gonna be here… So I decided to say hello." He says, pulling out a silver watch. Tranquility flies off my shoulder and dives at him as he cries out.

"Tranquility! Calm down!" I snap, watching as Tranquility immediately turns around and flies back to me.

"Get that bird out of here! And what is this…?" Lieutenant looks at the watch closely than cries out as loud as possible, immediately turning towards his subordinates as Edward skids towards me and looks at the bird in absolute amazement.

"What is this?" He asks as the idiots whisper between each other.

"A phoenix." I answer. "I am a sorceress."


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorcery~~ That's all I'm going to say.**

"A what?" He asks confused, causing me to twitch once again. The man slithers over to Edward and me with a cheesy expression and his hands clenched together.

"I'm sorry if my subordinates were impolite. My name is Yoki, and I'm in charge of this town. It must be fate that we met here Edward Elric! There's no need for you to stay in this pig-pen. Even though we're far from the city, we have some_ lovely _rooms back at my house!" He coos like a suck up.

"Sure I will take you up on that deal since the owner is too cheap to let me stay here!" Edward declares, following Yoki out the door.

"Oh, and I want that bird caged or killed in my house right now." He orders, glaring at me.

"You will NOT touch Tranquility." I state as Edward remains quiet, waiting for me to do something. The men begin to walk towards me and I snap my fingers and quickly trace a smoky ring of fire in front of me. Once made, Tranquility turns into my tarot cards and I quickly pull out the Mistress of Flame and snap it behind the ring. The minute it is in place fire is spewing out of the ring and towards the target. The men cry out and run as the fire chases them out of the inn. "Stay away from my bird." I state sharply as Yoki motions for Edward to follow quickly. Edward gives me one last amazed glace than slowly leaves with Yoki.

"That… That was amazing!" The boy gushes.

"You could've gotten hurt if you would have attacked him." I tell him simply, rubbing the side of my face as the tarot cards pile together again and turns back into Tranquility.

"But that still makes me so mad!" The boy declares, glaring at the door.

"Who does?" The brother asks, getting over the amazement.

"Both of them!" Everyone responds. I rub the back of my burning hand for a moment before crashing onto the counter.

"I still haven't got to talk to him…" I mutter feeling depressed for a moment. The brother sits back down beside me with a sigh.

"Who did you need to speak to?" He asks me as I pet Tranquility with thought.

"Edward Elric. I was just curious about to as why he is so famous." I state watching as Tranquilities flame finally goes back to being normal flame colored feathers.

"Oh, that's-"

"I'm getting tired of this treatment!"

"We need to do something about this!"

"Let's show that bastard his place."

"We should ambush them!" Threats like this were passed through each angry man as the brother and I stop and listen.

"Oh, my name is Alphonse Elric in case I haven't told you yet." The boy whispers quietly, trying not to look at the rowdy men.

"Charlotte Chroeder." I introduce right back at him. "If you don't mind me asking, how old are you guys?"

"I am fourteen and my older brother is fifteen." He tells me with a serious tone.

"I'm fifteen as well and I have one more question." I whisper quietly unheard by the men. Alphonse looks at me confused as I try to figure out how to paraphrase this.

"Why is your armor empty?" I whisper in the lowest whisper I could manage, feeling as if this was a secret that shouldn't be known. He backs up a little bit with a gasp, and then looks away from me.

"How could you tell?" He asks numbly.

"I'm a sorceress, I can see aura's and detect body heat that reflects human emotions as well. I am seeing your faint aura and I can feel your human emotions, but your body heat is nowhere, which means there is only a soul attached to that suit of armor." I explain.

"Well… You're right about everything I guess…" He admits, receiving no emotion from me.

"You shouldn't be ashamed to have a body like that. At least you have a soul is all I can say. There are creatures called demons out there that have a body and no soul. The only emotion they feel is hatred which makes them absolutely evil." I tell him, grabbing my cup and setting my hand on my cheek which still hurts.

"D-Demons?" Alphonse asks with confusion. I simply nod and leave him to go to my paid for room just down the hall. I flop down on the bed and feel my eye lids grow heavy. Tranquility lies down beside me as the bed feels about 3 degrees warmer. About two hours later I smell smoke and my entire body goes rigid.

"Tranquility!" I gasp, grabbing the bird and I run out of the burning Inn. There are people outside and a woman is crying.

"I saw some of Yoki's men hanging around the place." A man tells Halling as he holds his crying wife. That jerk… If he was here I would- Alphonse stares horrified at the last of the burning rubble.

"This... This is the work of somebody who has no heart…" Alphonse mutters as I pick up a pile of ashes and burnt wood.

"These people do not deserve this…" I state, glaring at the sky with hatred. I notice that the clouds are beginning to slow down and darken. The mood is being set; I'm not the only sorceress/sorcerer here that is ticked or upset. I look around as Tranquility hides in tarot card form, not wanting to get wet, inside of my pocket. I quickly cover the stars on my chest and hand, hoping not to get those wet either. Edward stands next to Alphonse and Khayal in silence as the boy sits Indian style with depression lingering on him. They talk quietly until Khayal jumps up and grabs Edwards's shirt with an angry expression.

"And you are supposed to be an alchemist?!" He screams, tears stinging his eyes.

"'Alchemists live for the sake of the people' eh?" Edward mutters, than smacks his hand away. "Even if I did give you the gold, it would all end up in taxes anyways right? And I won't get anything either if I do anything for your small little problems. If you have that many problems, than just leave and find a different job." Edward states, walking away.

"You don't understand kid… These mines are our home… And our graves." Halling says, setting his hand on Khayal's head as they walk away. I want to help as much as I could, but Edward has a point with it just ending up in taxes. I could give them a little couldn't I? I notice Edward and Alphonse had left and I am standing alone.

I look left and right than begin to walk away from the rubble to go anywhere. The star on my chest burns and I go into defense mode. I hear a giggle that echoes through the wall, a dangerous deadly giggle. I realize that I am by myself and anybody could strike. Rain begins to pelt the ground and I realize that this Sorceress is going for an attack by lowering my defenses. I double check to make sure that there is a fire shield around the stars.

"Oh no! It is raining! What will this fire element do?" A voice echoes and the world around me begins to melt. I am being dragged into another dimension in order to fight this weather or water element.

"Tranquility!" I say quickly, grabbing the mage held in my boot pocket for real this time.


End file.
